Monday 3 March 1941

British commando training during World War II.

Western Front: British commandos are at sea en route to the Lofoten Islands on 3 March 1941. This is Operation Claymore, an attack on fish-oil plants at these islands in northern Norway. The Royal Navy task force is Operation Rebel. The British ships have not been spotted and are heading into the islands from the west.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Italians continue their aggressive operations in Greece, bombing Larissa north of Athens. The RAF shoots five of the bombers down. This attack adds insult to injury, as Larissa has been devastated by earthquakes recently.

The Greeks are looking forward to the British expeditionary force. However, issues of strategy continue. There are multiple proposed lines, with the Metaxas Line on the Bulgarian border, the Aliakhmon Line behind the Metaxas, and the Nestos Line. The Greeks refuse to contemplate any territorial losses, so they want to try to hold the most advanced lines, while the British are more realistic and believe only lines further back have any likelihood of holding.

To try to reach some kind of resolution to this disagreement, both Middle East Commander General Wavell and Lustreforce commander Henry Maitland Wilson fly into Tatoi airfield. They will meet with Anthony Eden and CIGS John Dill, who remain in Athens to address just this kind of issue. However, no agreement is possible, because the two allies have different priorities. In any event, the first convoy for Lustreforce is scheduled to leave Alexandria tomorrow.

East African Campaign: The British at Mescelit Pass make some tentative moves forward. The 1st Royal Sussex advance across the Anseba Road and reach the vicinity of Mendad. Other troops head toward Massawa. There is only scattered Italian opposition on the road to Massawa.

The Italians at the port of Massawa see the British approaching and know what that invariably means - the same thing that happened at Kismayu and Mogadishu. So, the captains of three Italian submarines - Archimede, Guglielmotti, and Ferraris - set out to run the British blockade into the Indian Ocean.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends 71 bombers against Cologne (Koln) during the night. The Luftwaffe bombs Cardiff again with 47 bombers.

"The railings being dismantled in Berkeley Square, Mayfair on 3 March 1941." © IWM (HU 57684).

Battle of the Atlantic: German heavy cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst reach the vicinity of the Cape Verde Islands. Admiral Lütjens plans to intercept British convoys en route to and from Freetown. This is a major convoy route, with supplies for England flowing north and troop convoys heading south.

U-97 (Kptlt. Udo Heilmann) loses a man (Bootsmannsmaat, or Petty Officer, Artur Mei) overboard in the Bay of Biscay. Such incidents are very disheartening to the confined crews in U-boats.

U-124 (Kptlt. Georg-Wilhelm Schulz) is operating around the Canary Islands. Today, it refuels from German tanker Charlotte Schliemann. It will work in loose conjunction with Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, which now are in the same general area.

Royal Navy T-class submarine HMS Taku (Lt. John Frederick Beaufoy Brown, RN), on a passage from Holy Loch to Halifax, has been in trouble since 27 February due to weather damage. The aft hydroplanes have become locked in the vertical position due to wave damage, leaving the submarine immobile. Today, three Royal Navy ships (HMS Enchantress, Gladiolus and HMRT Salvonia) arrive. Salvonia after great difficulty takes the damaged submarine in tow to Londonderry.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 275-ton Royal Navy trawler HMT Cobbers off Lowestoft. There are 9-11 deaths, including Skipper L. Turner RNR, of her 15-man crew.

The Luftwaffe (KG 27 Heinkel He 111) bombs and disables 866-ton British freighter Port Townsville in St. George's Channel. There are two deaths, and the Port Townsville eventually sinks.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Royal Navy 5 ton auxiliary yacht HMY Tiny while at the dock at Sutherland.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Burnham collides with its fellow destroyer HMS Malcolm in the Northwest Approaches. Both destroyers proceed to Liverpool for repairs lasting into April.

British mine destructor ship HMS Corfield collides with British freighter Cormead in the Thames Estuary. The Corfield is lightly damaged and goes to Blackwell for repairs lasting until mid-March.

Royal Navy gunboat MGB 13 hits a mine off Milford Haven. It eventually sinks.

Convoy HG 55 departs from Gibraltar.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Begonia (K 66, Lt. Thomas A. R. Muir) and the escort destroyer HMS Liddesdale (L100) are commissioned, minesweeping trawler HMS Inchcolm and corvette Alysse are launched, and destroyer HMS Holcombe is laid down.

U-125 (Kapitänleutnant Günther Kuhnke) is commissioned.

The Port Townsville ablaze in St. George's Channel, 3 March 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: General Rommel, commander of the growing Afrika Korps, only has the 5th Light Division at his disposal (and allied Italian troops). Nevertheless, he moves more troops forward, adopting an aggressive posture. Rommel's most advanced troops now are in the vicinity of El Agheila, where they begin forming a defensive line based around a narrow pass 17 miles (30 km) west of the British lines. He also forms blocking lines to the south so that the British cannot just bypass his main defensive positions, as they have done repeatedly to the Italians.

Another supply convoy for Rommel's Afrika Korps departs from Naples bound for Tripoli. It has four freighters and is escorted by two destroyers and a torpedo boat.

British 1553-ton freighter Knight of Malta runs aground near Ras Azzaz, Libya (north of Bardia). Everybody survives. The cargo is salvaged, but the ship is written off due to air attacks.

At Malta, the conscription recently ordered by Governor Dobbie begins. Men line up at Birkirkara School to be processed. In addition, Police Constable Carmel Camilleri is awarded the George Medal for actions he took on 4 November 1940. On that date, Camilleri rescued an RAF pilot from a cliff into which his plane had crashed.

Battle of the Pacific: Convoy AP 14 departs from Wellington, New Zealand.

Panzer III in Bulgaria, March 1941.

Soviet/Bulgarian Relations: The Soviet Union considers Bulgaria within its sphere of control, and it is not amused that has Bulgaria joined Germany's Tripartite Pact. Foreign Minister Molotov denounces the signing, saying that a German presence there will only lead to problems.

Turkish/Bulgarian Relations: Turkey also reacts to the Bulgarian signing of the Tripartite Pact. It abrogates the non-aggression pact that it signed with Bulgaria in February.

US/Bulgarian Relations: The United States also reacts negatively to the Bulgarian signing of the Tripartite Pact. President Roosevelt immediately freezes all Bulgarian assets in the US. There, in fact, are very few Bulgarian assets in the US, but this is another instance of Roosevelt using his economic powers as a means of punishment.

US/Vichy French Relations: Vichy France agrees not to supply the German war machine with oil from French North Africa.

US Military: Rear Admiral John H. Newton, Commander Cruisers Scouting Forces, leads a flotilla of cruisers and destroyers on a training/scouting mission from Pearl Harbor to the US Naval base at Samoa. However, this mission also has other possible destinations that have not yet been finalized.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies, visiting London, gives an address to the Foreign Press Association on diplomatic relations in the Pacific region. As he puts it in his diary, the solution is:

Policy vis a vis Japan is not appeasement in the sense of offering sops to Cerberus, but a proper blend of friendliness & a plan statement that we can and will defend ourselves and our vital interests.

Churchill is sick with a cold and absent from Whitehall. Menzies notes that the British War Cabinet refuses to take any major decisions in his absence, and vows to find "the secret of having my cabinet unwilling to decide any important questions in my absence."

There are persistent theories that, around this time, several highly placed individuals in the British government are considering replacing Churchill with Menzies. Churchill is seen as a ruthless autocrat, while Menzies is far more amenable (and quite level-headed). However, this is a highly debatable theory based on scant evidence, though there is little question that Menzies is making a smashing impression in London. His absence from Melbourne, though, is gradually causing his highly placed political supporters there to look elsewhere. This is a fairly typical and recurrent political scenario, where a domestic leader becomes more popular abroad than at home (a more modern example is Mikhail Gorbachev in Russia).

Wehrmacht marching, Karnobat, Bulgaria, March 1941. Military marching band parades are a standard tactic the Germans use after occupying a city to show ownership and also provide some entertainment and show the locals it isn't all bad.

Dutch Homefront: Anton Mussert, leader of the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (NSB), visits German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels in Berlin. Mussert has been busy forming the 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division "Nederland," but this visit probably concerns the recent General Strike centered in Amsterdam that the SS brutally put down.

The Germans execute Ernst Cahn. Cahn is one of the owners of the Koco ice cream joint, held by rebels, which the Germans stormed in February. The German forces incurred several casualties during that raid, which led to the General Strike, which led to the Germans killing literally dozens of people for protesting. This reportedly is the first execution of a civilian in cold blood in Holland (other than during incidents like the Koco battle), but it won't be the last.

The famous "Crying Man" or "Weeping Frenchman" shot, published on 3 March 1941 in Life Magazine on page 29. This is from newsreel footage used in the the Frank Capra film "Why We Fight - Chapter III - Divide and Conquer." The footage was taken long after the French surrender as fleeing Frenchmen were leaving a southern port.

French Homefront: The famous "Crying Man" image that is universally mistaken as happening during the fall of Paris, but actually happened much later in Marseille, is published in Life Magazine. This becomes the start of the picture's (it is a frame from a film) gradual elevation to iconic status. While the exact details are a subject of scholarship, according to "Marseille sous l'occupation" by Lucien Gaillard, this is a shot of Monsieur Jerôme Barzetti, taken in Marseilles on February 20, 1941. Other sources place this in September 1940 (the date being in 1940 makes sense, since it occurred during the transfer of the French flags to North Africa which happened then, but as I noted, this is a matter of scholarly research). There is no further information on the further history of Monsieur Barzetti.

American Homefront: The US Supreme Court issues its decision in Railroad Commission v. Pullman Co., 312 U.S. 496 (1941). This case introduces what is known as "Pullman Abstention," wherein federal courts abstain from hearing cases that involve questions of sensitive application of US Constitutional claims to state policy. In short, when state social policy is at issue, the proper court to decide a case is the state court in the state in question despite the presence of questions relating to the US Constitution. If deciding the state law ground for relief could obviate the need to adjudicate the federal issue, then the state court should be the proper court to hear the case. This Pullman Abstention doctrine leads to decades of refinement and a clear set of rules for deciding the issue, and the general result is that the state court hears the case first, and if the application of state law does not determine the outcome, then a federal court can hear the claims based on the US Constitution.

Australians about to ship out to Greece muster to lifeboat stations during a drill, 3 March 1941 (Australian War Memorial).

Below is the 1943 Frank Capra film which contains the newsreel footage from which the "Weeping Frenchman" shot is taken. The Weeping Frenchman appears at 54:50 (this clip is only a few minutes long, it is toward the end).

Saturday 1 March 1941

A captured Rettungsboje (life buoy) in British a port (Guerra-Abierta).

Italian/Greek Campaign: On 1 March 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's new plan is to convince the Yugoslav government to join the Allies. He instructs Foreign Minister Anthony Eden to meet with them to see if they will attack the Italians in Albania. Otherwise, the front is quiet today as both sides gear up for renewed offensives.

East African Campaign: Briggsforce, a loose assembly of troops under the command of Brigadier Briggs of the 4th Indian Division's 7th Indian Infantry Brigade, takes Mescelit Pass from the Italian 107th Colonial Battalion. This is a key road about 24 km north of Keren, where the British have been blocked by the Italians for weeks. Briggsforce now has the opportunity to attack the Italian defenders from the rear, or to advance on Massawa on the coast. However, the actual effect of this success is somewhat mitigated by the fact that Briggsforce does not have artillery.

With Mogadishu in the bag in Eritrea, the British continue mopping up the remaining Italian resistance. The 11th African Division pursues the Italians north along the Juba River towards the Ogaden Plateau and Abyssinia. The Italians are evacuating all of Italian Somaliland, according to General Cunningham.

Mogadishu is proving a very mixed blessing for the British. The port is in terrible shape, and no ships will be able to enter any time soon. The city is a sanitary disaster, full of unburied corpses and shallow graves.

HMS Formidable, still awaiting clearance to transit the Suez Canal after recent Luftwaffe mining, is stuck in Port Sudan. Its aircraft, which have transferred for the time being to land bases, attack Massawa. The attack achieves little.

Repeating a familiar pattern, the naval forces in Massawa see the approaching British land forces and realize that time is limited. Accordingly, some begin to escape. Today, Italian submarines Gauleo Ferraras, Perla, and Archimede leave to return to Europe. While they can evade the Royal Navy, the submarines are not large, ocean-going submarines, and thus cannot carry enough supplies for long journeys. Italian freighter Himalaya also attempts to escape.

There are few friendly ports left between Massawa and Europe. Thus, the crews will be faced with deep privation during this journey. What makes these journeys possible is the well-maintained chain of German tankers and supply ships in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans which also have been aiding the German raiders.

A beached Rettungsboje.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends 100+ bombers against Cologne.

The Luftwaffe mounts some minor raids along the east coast. He.111H-5 (1H+BK/wnr. 3774 ) of 2./KG26 ditches in the Moray Firth and paddles ashore. Oblt. Hatto Kuhn(FF), Uffz Friedrich Großhardt (BO), Gefr. Manfred Hänel (BF) and Uffz Ferdinand Mänling (BS) are captured and interrogated at Banff. This becomes a fairly well-known incident due to various accounts told by the Luftwaffe men over the decades.

A Junkers Ju 52/3m of IV,/JG z b V 1 lands at Skopje, Yugoslavia due to a navigational error. The government interns the plane and crew.

Hans-Joachim Marseille of JG 27 is promoted to the rank of Oberfähnrich, effective this date. This promotion is long overdue, occurring after all the other pilots from his original Geschwader, LG 2, have reached this rank or higher. Marseille is seen as undisciplined and a playboy, a pilot who refuses to follow orders and constantly endangers his wingman by freelancing.

Dietrich Peltz, a promising bomber pilot, is promoted to Hauptmann (Captain) in KG 77.

Erich "Bubi" Hartmann progresses to the Luftkriegsschule 2 (Air War School 2) in Berlin-Gatow. He still has not flown solo.

The Luftwaffe is getting tired of losing pilots in the English Channel after they wind up in the water. They very stealthily and pragmatically have created and placed Rettungsboje (Rescue Buoys) about ten miles off the coast of France, or very roughly halfway to England. These are known casually as Generalluftzeugmeister or Udet-Bojen after the Luftwaffe's head of equipment, Generaloberst Ernst Udet. Basically, these are anchored submarines with small entryways that extend above the surface. Downed airmen who can make their way to these devices have a way to survive until they are spotted. Each 10-meter-long object - mounted on floats - contains four bunk beds and a cupboard with provisions. It is an ingenious solution to a very real problem. When occupied, the Luftwaffe men are to hoist the Red Cross flag and await rescue. Apparently, there also is a wireless station aboard.

Today, the British spot two of these hospital floats and tow them into Newhaven Harbour. These Rettungsboje later will feature in two films, "We Dive At Dawn" (1943) and "One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing" (1942).

Without getting moralistic about it, these craft technically are hospital ships. The British violate international rules of war by "capturing them" - though, by this point, the Germans are well aware that the British are pushing the envelope when it comes to disrespecting the Red Cross flag (due to many 1940 RAF shootdowns of German search and rescue planes). However, there are many of these at sea, and it appears the British are able to find only a few. It is unclear how useful they are in practice, but it likely gives many Luftwaffe pilots some comfort knowing that they are there. Incidentally, they also could be used by downed RAF pilots, too, and even the crews of sunk ships.

An illustration of a Rettungsboje.

Battle of the Atlantic: German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer re-enters the South Atlantic from the Indian Ocean.

U-552 (K.Kapt. Erich Topp), on its first patrol out of Helgoland, gets off to a fast start. Operating just north of Scotland, U-552 sinks 12,062-ton British tanker Cadillac. The tanker is carrying highly flammable Aviation spirit fuel, which ignites due to the explosion. There are 37 deaths, including the master and three passengers. Only five crew survive, one of whom dies the next day from burns. The sinking is horrific because 26 men manage to take to the boats, but the burning oil sets the sea afire and creates an inferno, burning some and causing others to leap from the boats and drown. The blaze is so fantastic that Captain Topp calls his crew on deck to witness it, which is highly unusual.

Royal Navy 349 ton minesweeping trawler HMT St. Donats collides with destroyer HMS Cotswold in the Humber. The St. Donats sinks, while the destroyer proceeds to Chatham for repairs that last the rest of the month.

The Luftwaffe attacks Convoy WN 91 off Fraserburgh (north of Aberdeen) from about 19:35 to 20:14. The planes damage 5057-ton British freighter Forthbank. There are four deaths. The freighter makes it to Invergordon. The planes also damage 6098-ton freighter Pennington Court, but only slightly.

The Luftwaffe also attacks Convoy EN 79 off Aberdeen (WN and EN convoys are the same, just running in the opposite directions). The planes damage 8949-tanker Atheltempar. Atheltempar is consumed with flames, but with great courage is taken in tow by HMS Speedwell (Commander Youngs) and taken to Methil Roads. The fire takes 4 1/2 hours to put out. The Atheltempar's crew, taken aboard the Speedwell, refuses to help fight the fire and simply goes to bed. The rescue becomes a major event, as Admiral Ramsay onshore sends out a flight of Hurricanes to ward off additional Luftwaffe bombers. Eventually, a large tug arrives and brings it to an anchorage off Methil.

The Luftwaffe bombs and disables 7981-ton Dutch tanker Rotula in St. George's Channel off Wexford. There are 16 deaths. The derelict becomes a hazard to navigation and eventually is sunk by a passing British trawler.

The Luftwaffe also hits 5691-ton British freighter Empire Simba near the burning Rotula. The damage forces the Empire Simba's crew to abandon ship, but it eventually is towed to Liverpool.

Norwegian 2112-ton freighter Huldra, working for the Germans, hits a mine and sinks at Hustadvika, Norway.

Destroyer HMS Firedrake runs aground east of Gibraltar on the Spanish coast. It eventually is freed and returns to Gibraltar for repair.

Royal Navy heavy cruiser HMS Cornwall, operating in the far South Atlantic west of Cape Town, encounters 4972 ton French freighter Ville De Jamunga. The Cornwall escorts the French ship to Cape Town.

Escort Carrier USS Charger (CVE-30) is launched. This carrier, under construction at Newport News, Virginia, is tentatively scheduled to be transferred to the Royal Navy under Lend-Lease - once Lend-Lease becomes law, that is. This transfer will be rescinded, though. At the moment, it still carries the name Rio de la Plata, which the Royal Navy prefers, but that name will change to USS Charger.

Convoy HX 112 departs from Halifax, Convoy BHX 112 departs from Bermuda, Convoy SL 67 departs from Freetown.
Royal Navy corvette HMS Anchusa (Lt. Philipp Everett-Price) is commissioned, anti-submarine warfare trawler HMS Minuet is launched, the destroyer HMS Catterick is laid down.

US destroyer USS Meredith (Lt. Commander William K. Mendenhall, Jr.) and submarine USS Grayling (Lt. Eliot Olsen) are both commissioned.

U-766 is laid down, U-161 and U-162 are launched.

Bogdan Filov signs the Tripartite Pact on behalf of Bulgaria, 1 March 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Colonel Leclerc and his Free French forces accept the submission of the Italians at El Tag fortress at Kufra Oasis. The Italians are allowed to retreat to Italian lines, while the French keep all of their supplies and equipment. Surrendering are 11 officers, 18 NCOs, and 273 Libyan soldiers according to Italian sources, while the survivors of 70 members of the Saharan Company outside the fort also could have been used to break the blockade. The Free French victors have about 350 soldiers, but, most importantly, they have the only effective artillery in the engagement. Total casualties are three deaths on the Italian side and four dead on the French side. The Free French get a windfall of equipment never used by the Italians, including eight SPA AS.37 trucks, half a dozen lorries, four 20 mm cannon and 53 machine guns.

Royal Navy minesweeping drifter HMT Ploughboy detonates three mines in quick succession at Malta. The skipper has to beach the drifter. There is one death and nine wounded. This is a serious loss for the British because the Ploughboy is the only minesweeper of its type available.

Another major convoy departs from Naples for Tripoli with reinforcements and supplies for the Afrika Korps. It has four freighters and a heavy escort.

Axis Relations: Tsar Boris III approves of Bulgarian participation in the Tripartite Pact which forms the foundation of the Axis. So, Prime Minister Bogdan Filov signs the Pact in Vienna on behalf of Bulgaria.

German/Bulgarian Relations: German troops openly began entering Bulgaria on 28 February after months of covert operations in the country. Today, with Bulgaria officially joining the Axis, the Wehrmacht troops openly ride through Sofia. Among the many wild promises made to the Bulgarians is that they will receive an outlet to the Aegean - which would have to cut off northern Greece.

Anglo/US Relations: New US Ambassador John G. Winant meets the Duke of Kent and the King of England on his way to London.

US/Soviet Relations: Under-Secretary of State Sumner Welles passes along information in his possession about a coming attack on the Soviet Union. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin is receiving several of these warnings from various sources and discounts them all.

Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering and manufacturer Professor Willi Messerschmidt (pointing) in a newspaper picture on 1 March 1941. Goering it touring southern German.

German Military: The Junkers Ju 87 Stuka remains the workhorse of the Luftwaffe for precision ground attacks. While they are proving increasingly vulnerable to fighter attacks, there is no better alternative available or in the offing. Thus, development continues. Today, five prototypes (Ju 87 V21-25) converted from B-1 to D-1/D-4 make their first flights. The Ju 87 D switches the placement of the oil cooler and two coolant radiators and, more strikingly, has a more aerodynamically sculpted cockpit which gives the pilot better visibility. The pilots also receive increased armor protection, while a better machine gun (dual-barrel 7.92 mm MG 71Z) is placed in the rear of the cockpit. The engine now delivers 1401 hp, and maximum bomb-carrying ability increases from 500 kg to 1800 kg.

These incremental changes do not improve the survivability of the aircraft very much against the RAF. However, the increased power eventually will make the Stuka (in a still later version, the G) more effective at what will become its primary task: tank destruction.

US Military: Support Force, Atlantic Fleet is established. This will protect convoys in the North Atlantic. The first commander is Rear Admiral Arthur L. Bristol. It is composed of Destroyer Squadron 7 (Captain J L Kauffman), Destroyer Squadron 30 (Captain M Y Cohen), and Destroyer Squadron 31 (Captain W D.Baker). Each squadron has two divisions, each containing three or four destroyers. While many of the destroyers eventually gain some renown, the two that stand out are USS Reuben James in Division 62 and USS Greer in Division 61.

The US 133rd Infantry Regiment arrives at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana for training.

Soviet Military: General Zhukov, appointed Chief of the General Staff on 1 February, takes over this position. He replaces the temporarily disgraced (in Stalin's eyes, anyway) Meretskov.

Chinese Military: General Hiroshi Nemoto becomes the commanding officer of the 24th Division.

New Zealand Military: New Zealand's first fighter squadron, No. 485 Squadron RNZAF, forms.

Japanese Military: Lieutenant General Hiroshi Takahashi becomes chief of staff of the Japanese Chosen Army, currently based in Korea. Lieutenant General Takaji Wachi becomes chief of staff of Japan's Taiwan Army. Wachi previously served in Taiwan until his present position on the staff of the Central China Expeditionary Army. Wachi also heads its Research Division, considering techniques for land warfare in Southeast Asia.

US Government: The US Senate votes unanimously to establish a select committee to study US war production. Of course, the US isn't even at war at the moment, but war production is ramping up to help the British and equip various US bases in the Pacific. This commission is headed by Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman and becomes known as the Truman Commission.

Chinese Government: Nationalist (Kuomintang) leader Chiang Kai-shek gives an address to the People's Political Council.

Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, left, carrying out an inspection of Auschwitz. Here, Himmler is surrounded by SS men during his second visit to Auschwitz – in July 1942 – at the site of the IG Farben industrial plant. Next to Himmler (left in the first row), you can see senior IG Farber engineer Maximilian Faust (in a hat) and Rudolf Hoess - the commandant of Auschwitz.

Holocaust: Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of German Police Heinrich Himmler inspects the concentration camp at Oswiecim, aka Auschwitz. There is a major synthetic fuel plant being constructed nearby, as well as other factories that use the camp's slave labor. During his visit, Himmler orders the expansion of the camp to 30,000 and another camp built at Birkenau to hold 100,000 more. Birkenau's original purpose is to hold an expected influx of Soviet prisoners of war after the start of Operation Barbarossa. Auschwitz, Himmler orders camp commandant Rudolf Hoess to commit 10,000 prisoners to build an I.G. Farben synthetic rubber factory at Dwory, a kilometer or two away.

Greek Homefront: There is a strong 6.3 magnitude earthquake centered at Larissa, north of Athens. A reported, 10,000 are left homeless.

Dutch Homefront: The Germans have quelled the General Strike called in February which involved up to 300,000 participants. Today, they impose a fine of 15 million guilders on the city of Amsterdam for local participation in the strike.

American Homefront: Theodore N. Kaufman publishes "Germany Must Perish!" This is the first in a series of written items in the United States - most notoriously the Morgenthau Plan later in the war - that the German Propaganda Ministry seizes upon with glee.

"Captain America" makes his official debut in an American comic book (although in actuality the issue dated today actually was released in December 1940 - in time for Christmas).

The Admiralty IX Floating Dry Dock, Singapore, March 1941 (Image #6159, Courtesy Australian War Memorial).

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

March 1941

March 1, 1941: Rettungsboje
March 2, 1941: Oath of Kufra
March 3, 1941: Germans in Bulgaria
March 4, 1941: Lofoten Islands Raid
March 5, 1941: Cooperation With Japan
March 6, 1941: Battle of Atlantic
March 7, 1941: Prien Goes Under
March 8, 1941: Cafe de Paris
March 9, 1941: Italian Spring Offensive
March 10, 1941: Humanitarian Aid
March 11, 1941: Lend Lease Become Law
March 12, 1941: A New Magna Carta
March 13, 1941: Clydeside Wrecked
March 14, 1941: Leeds Blitz
March 15, 1941: Cruisers Strike!
March 16, 1941: Kretschmer Attacks
March 17, 1941: Happy Time Ends
March 18, 1941: Woolton Pie
March 19, 1941: London Hit Hard
March 20, 1941: Romeo and Juliet
March 21, 1941: Plymouth Blitz
March 22, 1941: Grand Coulee Dam
March 23, 1941: Malta Under Siege
March 24, 1941: Afrika Korps Strikes!
March 25, 1941: Yugoslavia Joins The Party
March 26, 1941: Barchini Esplosivi
March 27, 1941: Belgrade Coup
March 28, 1941: Cape Matapan Battle
March 29, 1941: Lindbergh Rants
March 30, 1941: Commissar Order
March 31, 1941: Cookie Bombs

2020

Monday 17 February 1941

Adolf Hitler and Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Oshima.

Italian/Greek Campaign: After a very long and difficult struggle, on 17 February 1941 the Greeks complete the recapture of the Trebeshina massif. Overall, it has been an almost Pyrrhic victory, though. The Cretan 5th Infantry Division suffers terribly during the struggle, with 5776 casualties, and is effectively destroyed. Naturally, the Italians lose many men as well, but they just have to hold their positions and wait for the Germans eventually to bail them out by invading Greece from another direction. For the Italians, the battle has become a matter of national pride, and they vow to recapture the mountains and surrounding territory in the Spring.

East African Campaign: The South African 5th Infantry Brigade continues attacking toward Mega, while the 1st Infantry Brigade manages to cross the Juba River at Yonte against fierce Italian opposition.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe raids London with 50 bombers, its largest raid in some time. RAF Bomber Command stays on the ground.

Empire Knoll, which runs aground and is lost today.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Germans have quite a small fleet at work in the Atlantic. It involves numerous supply ships serving both heavy cruisers (currently three are on the loose: Gneisenau, Scharnhorst, and Admiral Scheer) and armed raiders. Today, German tanker Nordmark meets supply ship Alstertor to refuel it. The Nordmark has been towing captured British refrigerated ship Duquesa, which was taken full of meat and dairy products. However, all good things must come to an end, and today the Nordmark cuts loose the 8651-ton ship, not because it was out of food, but because there was no longer any fuel to power the refrigeration equipment - making it a stinky mess around the Equator. Some accounts state that Admiral Scheer sank the Duquesa upon encountering it on 18 December, but in fact, the refrigerated ship was taken as a prize and became legendary in the Kriegsmarine as the "floating delicatessen" which kept the crews of several ships well-fed for two months.

The weather is terrible. This causes all sorts of problems both for ships and for crews abandoning their sinking ships.
U-101 (Kptlt. Ernst Mengersen) torpedoes and sinks 5237-ton British pig iron freighter Gairsoppa three hundred miles southwest of Galway. Gairsoppa is a straggler from convoy SL 64. Mengersen misses with several torpedoes (the weather is terrible), but one hits and sets the ship afire. The U-boat then leaves, and the ship sinks after the crew barely escape in the lifeboats. Almost everyone dies of exposure. There are 82 deaths and only one survivor (the second officer, who brought his lifeboat to shore). After this, U-101 heads back to Lorient.

U-103 (Viktor Schütze) torpedoes and sinks 10,455-ton tanker Edwy R. Brown. The tanker is a straggler behind Convoy HX 107 in the North Atlantic shipping lanes.

U-69 (Kptlt. Jost Metzler) is on its first patrol operating out of Kiel southwest of the Faroe Islands when it spots a freighter. It is 8456-ton British freighter MV Siamese Prince, which becomes U-69's first victim. There are no survivors even though Metzler sees them take to the lifeboats - survival in the frigid ocean with storms and winter gales is problematic at best. Everybody (57 men) onboard perishes, and Admiralty searches by several destroyers find nothing and nobody.

British 307 ton collier Kyle Rona is sailing from Maryport for Portreath when it just disappears. None of the seven men on board, including Master Frederick Cook, survives. It may have hit a mine or broached deep and took water or...

British 156 ton freighter Ren Rein hits a mine off Falmouth, Cornwall in the English Channel and sinks. There are two deaths.

British 5817 ton freighter Casamance runs aground off Skinningrove, Yorkshire. The ship breaks in two and is written off. There are 38 survivors and 9 deaths.

British 2824 ton collier Empire Knoll comes aground due to the winter gales at Tynemouth in County Durham. The ship winds up on the old North Pier foundations there and is holed. It is a total loss.

Portuguese schooner Patriotismo sinks in the rough winter weather off Peniche. There are one death and seven deaths.

German raider Pinguin, in the south Atlantic, is joined by German supply ship Alstertor. Together, they sail for the Indian Ocean.

Admiral Sir Percy L.H. Noble becomes the new commander of the Royal Navy Western Approaches Command.

Convoys WS 6A and 6B (Winston Special) departs from various British ports. It includes numerous transports bound for the Middle East.

Convoy TC 9 departs from Halifax with numerous troop transports. They don't know it, but German heavy cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst are lurking just north of the shipping lanes looking for good targets.

Convoy BN 16 departs from Aden.

Destroyer HMS Avon Vale (L 06, Lt. Commander Peter A. R. Withers) is commissioned.

Light cruiser USS Birmingham is laid down.

British guard duty west of Benghazi, 17 February 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British have been deliberating about sending troops to Greece for weeks, and now they finally are in a position to start telling some of their allies about their plans. They inform New Zealand General Bernard Freyberg that he will command the expeditionary force. Freyberg is a legendary officer, much admired by the British, who currently commands the New Zealand Division.

Colonel Leclerc in southwestern Libya is heading for their ultimate target of Kufra. Leclerc has about 350 men, but the Italians are aware they are coming. The Italian Saharan company of 70 men intercepts Leclerc's force with 20 mm guns in ten armored AS37 cars. After a vicious firefight, the French lost many of their trucks but are able to continue forward when the Italians at Kufra stay inside their fort and don't help the Sahariana. Leclerc's men surround the fort, El Tag, and place their only artillery piece, a 75 mm gun, about 3000 meters from the walls. The French also place several 81 mm mortars about 1500 meters from the fort. The Saharan company attacks again but is beaten off again. The French settle down to a siege.

Turkish/Bulgarian Relations: The two nations formally sign their nonaggression pact. While at first, this might seem favorable to the British, in fact, it is designed to allow Hitler to move troops through Bulgaria to invade Greece without Turkish interference. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill has been trying to cajole the Turks (and their 38 divisions) into joining the British side, but this move effectively ends that attempt for the time being.

German/Japanese/British Relations: Japan makes an offer to mediate the European conflict, just as it has been mediating the border war in Indochina. Nobody takes Japan up on the offer.

General Oshima arrives as minister to Germany, his second appointment there. Oshima is viewed by the Germans as very sympathetic to their war aims.

German Military: Adolf Hitler is thinking big. He dreams of capturing India from the British, and in fact, has been sending presents (such as a motorcar) to some princes in the region. He orders his military staff to explore the feasibility of advancing through Afghanistan to India.

"Cunningham, Admiral of the Mediterranean." February 17, 1941, | Vol. XXXVII No. 7 (Cover Credit: ERNEST HAMLIN BAKER).

British Government: Winston Churchill has a busy day sending memos and pontificating to all and sundry about his pet concerns.

During the war council meeting today, Churchill cautions against worrying about "divisions" in the military (as opposed to brigades or corps and so forth). The gist of his oration on this point is that the term "division" can refer to vastly different forces.

Churchill also memos CIGS General Ismay and Cabinet Secretary Sir Edward Bridges cautioning them not to reveal the source of their information about Japanese decrypts, information which apparently was sent around the office. He wants all copies tracked down and the information suppressed, all the way down to identifying what copying machine was used and "who gave the orders for it to go in this form." Naturally, he doesn't want the Japanese to know the British have broken their codes.

Ireland also is on Churchill's mind. He memos General Ismay that the Germans might invade Ireland before they invade England, which would give the British the "immediate pretext" to invade Ireland - something that Churchill appears eager to do. He urges Ismay to use "every scheme of which military and naval ingenuity are capable to move more troops across the Irish Channel" whether the Irish want them there or not. In fact, the Irish have made plain that they do not want to be involved in the British war.

Churchill also memos Viscount Cranborne and Sir Kingsley Wood to implement economic sanctions against southern Ireland "to make Southern Ireland realized how great a wrong they were doing to the cause of freedom by their denial of the ports" to the Royal Navy. At this point, it seems as if Churchill is much more interested in invading Ireland than Hitler ever is.

Policeman helping children with their gas masks, Brighton, 17 February 1941.

Japanese Government: Foreign Minister Yōsuke Matsuoka gives a speech which echoes the similar language of Adolf Hitler regarding the Soviet Union and "Lebensraum":

This region [Oceania] has sufficient natural resources to support from 600,000,000 to 800,000,000 people. I believe we have a natural right to migrate there.

Times, Feb. 18, 1941, p. 1. Oceania, of course, includes Australia, the Dutch East Indies, and New Zealand. Thus, the Japanese basically are telling all Europeans that they are not wanted in the Pacific and that they feel entitled by "natural right" to occupy lands now claimed by others.

US Government: The US Senate begins debating the Lend-Lease bill.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies is continuing his epic, month-long journey from Melbourne to London. Today, he stops over in Lagos, where he meets fellow Australian Sir Bernard Bourdillon, the Governor. Bourdillon blames the British fiasco at Dakar in September 1940, and a related incident in which French cruisers were allowed to cruise out of Mediterranean past Gibraltar to reinforce the Vichy French forces there, on unclear instructions from Winston Churchill. To be fair, Bourdillon has a point, as the British attitude toward Vichy France seems confused at best. Menzies seems quite impressed with Bourdillon and wonders if he and similar governors are "consulted enough." In fact, they are probably not consulted at all, as Churchill likes to run his own shop.

Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies viewing a burning tanker in Tobruk Harbor, February 1941.

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020

Saturday 8 February 1941

A Westland Whirlwind (this is the first prototype, L6844) gets its first confirmed kill today.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Fighting continues around Tepelenë on 8 February 1941, but the Italian defenses there are holding firm. Things are quiet elsewhere on the battlefield, but much is going on behind it. The new Greek government takes a different approach than the Metaxas government and asks the British if they can talk some more about the size of British forces to be inserted on the Greek mainland. British Prime Minister Churchill is delighted at this sudden chance to achieve his dream and put British troops into action in the Balkans.

There is activity on the other side as well. The Bulgarian government signs an agreement granting permission to the Wehrmacht to set up its 12th Army on its territory for an attack into Greece. Undercover German troops have been scouting the frontier for some time for good locations. The weather is too rough for any operations at the moment, but the Wehrmacht has a large troop presence in Romania which can quickly slide into position in Bulgaria. The situation with Yugoslavia remains up in the air, as nobody knows if the Yugoslavs will decide to join the Tripartite Pact or continue their somewhat hostile attitude.
East African Campaign: At Keren, the 4th (Outram's)/6th Rajputana Rifles Indian troops begin the day holding an advanced position to the right of the Dongolaas Gorge which provides a narrow entryway through the mountains. However, this position is subject to fire from surrounding heights in three directions. This is dangerous both for the troops themselves and, more importantly in terms of sustainability, for those bringing up supplies from the rear. At 04:30, having run out of ammunition, the Indian troops evacuate the Acqua Col and retire to the less exposed positions in Happy Valley (Scescilembi Valley) where they began their attack This will be the last significant activity for a couple of days, as the Italians have now forced back attack on both sides of the Gorge and appear determined to hold it. The Indian troops regroup and take the time to plan a new strategy.

European Air Operations: Activities are light today. RAF Bomber Command sends 15 bombers to raid Mannheim during the night. The Luftwaffe, meanwhile, conducts only scattered missions against British shipping during the day, and light activity over York and the West Coast after dark.

RAF No. 263 Squadron, operating out of RAF Exeter, is at this time the only squadron using the Westland Whirlwind Mk 1 twin-engine fighter. Today, it gets its first confirmed kill, an Arado AR 196 floatplane, but in the process, the Whirlwind also crashes.

Bristol Blenheim Mark Is of RAF No. 62 Squadron at Tengah Airfield, Singapore, before flying north to their new base at Alor Star, in northern Malaya. Photo taken ca. 8 February 1941 (IWM  Photo No. K 135/Collection No.: 4700-10).

Battle of the Atlantic: At 08:30, German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sight a convoy on the horizon south of Greenland. It is Convoy HX-106. The lookouts inform Admiral Lütjens that battleship HMS Ramillies is among the escorts, and Lütjens, onboard the Gneisenau, follows orders not to fight capital ships and orders a retreat. However, in a rare bit of both initiative and disobedience by a Kriegsmarine commander, KzS Hoffmann of the Scharnhorst decides to make a run at the Ramillies to try to lure it away from the convoy so that the Gneisenau can attack it. He closes to within 23,000 meters - the extreme range of a battleship - before Lütjens restores order and orders Hoffmann away.

The two ships slip off to the northwest and are not pursued by the Ramillies, which continues escorting the convoy to the east. Lütjens believes that the convoy has spotted Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, which would bring the entire Royal Navy after them. However, the British in fact only spotted the Scharnhorst, which the British lookout misidentifies as the Admiral Hipper (they do look almost identical). The problems of British military intelligence cascade here, as they have no idea of the whereabouts of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and, for all they know, the two ships are still in port. Since only one ship was seen, the Admiralty also assumes it was the Admiral Hipper, known to be a single raider on the loose, and the Admiralty reacts in a measured fashion.

Thus, the compounding British errors work to Scharnhorst and Gneisenau's advantage and they retire unmolested into the misty morning. The Royal Navy does dispatch a good part of the Home Fleet to the vicinity, but those ships are far away and the German ships have the entire ocean in which to hide.

British 5760-ton freighter Henri Jaspar hits a mine and is damaged off Sully Island. The crew quickly beaches the ship on the island, and, after temporary repairs, it is taken to Cardiff. There is one death.

British 5791-ton freighter Ramon De Larrinaga springs a leak off Delaware, United States. The crew swiftly beaches the ship near Lewes. The weather sinks the ship within a couple of days, but it is later refloated, repaired, and renamed Empire Mersey.

Minesweeper HMS Hebe is in a collision and has to return to Rosyth for minor repairs which last about two weeks.

German raider Kormoran continues its meeting with supply ship Nordmark off the Cape Verde Islands.

Convoy OB 283 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SC 22 departs from Halifax.

U-83 (Kptlt. Hans-Werner Kraus) is commissioned at Lübeck, U-602 is laid down.

USS Salt Lake City (CA 25), a Pensacola class heavy cruiser, February 1941 ( | Phil DeFer | Flickr).

Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel, in charge of Operation Sunflower, prepares to begin shipping his forces across the Sicilian Strait to Tripoli. The first three transport ships for the journey are loaded in Naples and set sail. While not yet called the Afrika Corps, this can be said to be the first movement of that force to North Africa. At this point, the Germans cannot make use of Tunisia because they do not have permission from the Vichy French authorities there. Preparations are made to send the rest of the troops of the 5th Light Division across to Tripolitania within a few days. The Italian 5th Army has four divisions at Tripolitania, and a few thousand men have escaped from the disaster of the 10th Army. Events have shown that it does not matter how many Italian troops there are, they cannot fight effectively and should be easy prey for O'Connors hardened warriors.

If O'Connor had been able to send XIII Corps ahead quickly against no resistance, it is conceivable that he could occupy the entire Libyan coast before the Wehrmacht even arrives. However, without Wavell's approval, O'Connor is unable to do that. Whether O'Connor will ever get that approval is an open question, given Prime Minister Churchill's obsession with sending troops from North Africa to Greece to support the Greeks against an anticipated German invasion via Bulgaria.

The Italian fleet, led by battleships Veneto, Cesare, and Doria, puts to sea from La Spezia. They conduct a more-or-less routine patrol west of the Bonifacio Strait.

General Cunningham, operating north of Sardinia on Operation Grog (formerly Result), makes a feint toward Sardinia, then continues on toward Genoa. The ships, led by battleship Malaya and aircraft carrier Ark Royal, should be in a position to attack the city and nearby installations at dawn on the 9th.

Dutch 3359 ton tanker Adinda hits two mines at Tobruk Harbor, which has been hurriedly - apparently too hurriedly - cleared since its capture. There are 17 deaths. Another ship, 3220-ton former Italian freighter Rodi, also suffers damage from a mine in Tobruk Harbor.

At Malta, the Luftwaffe attacks Hal Far and Luqa airfields during the day, damaging both bases. The raids last into the night and also hit some civilian targets, including St. Vincent de Paule hospital and The Leper Hospital. There is one civilian death.

US/Anglo Relations: In an event of decisive importance to the conduct of World War II, the US House of Representatives passes the Lend-Lease Bill, 265-165. In the end, the win is lopsided, contrary to the expectations of a close vote. The news rockets around the world, showing that Great Britain's financial issues now are at an end for the duration of the conflict.

Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt's latest envoy, takes his leave of Great Britain.

A banner advertising a Benefit for Greek war victims in Hollywood, to be held on 8 February 1941. The stars receiving the most attention are Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, both big supporters of the war effort.

British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes a couple of appointments. Lord Moyne, Churchill's long-time friend and confidante, is made Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Duke of Norfolk becomes the Joint Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture. Churchill has a decided tendency to put his old cronies in positions where the occupants may have to rubber-stamp his own decisions.

Alfred Ernest Brown, Chairman of the National Liberal Party and Secretary of State for Scotland, becomes the Minister of Health. Brown is the more interesting choice. Previously he had served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health and many other positions in the government, but his leadership of the National Liberal Party becomes a disaster for that party during the 1940s. He is notorious for his loud voice and pretty much is a familiar face in governmental circles.

Vichy French Government: Relations between Premier Philippe Pétain and his former lieutenant Pierre Laval continue to thaw. Pétain offers Laval a seat in the cabinet again, but Laval holds out for something better.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies continues his epic journey from Melbourne to London. He currently has broken his journey in North Africa for a while, and today is that takes place at recently captured Tobruk. He notes that it is so cold that the "R.A.F. men are wearing sheepskin overalls."

Canada: Malcolm MacDonald becomes the new British High Commissioner, replacing Sir Gerald Campbell. Campbell switches to become the British Consul General to the United States, a position he had held from 1931-38. Campbell is a sort of raconteur who gets on well with the Americans, and nothing is as important to the British war effort as the "special relationship" with the United States.

China: At the continuing Battle of Southern Honen, the Japanese 11th Army continues its scorched-earth policy and retreats toward Hsinyang.

Future History: Nicholas King Nolte is born in Omaha, Nebraska. After finding that he does not like school, Nolte begins a career acting in various California regional theaters. He turns this into a modeling career in the late 1960s. He gets a big acting break when, in 1976, he is cast as a leading role in a television miniseries based on Irwin Shaw's "Rich Man, Poor Man." As one of the first big miniseries, "Rich Man, Poor Man" gets a lot of attention, and this leads to a new career as a Hollywood leading man. Some of his more successful films are "The Deep" (1977), "North Dallas Forty" (1979), "48 Hours" (1982) and "Prince of Tides" (1992). Nick Nolte remains a top Hollywood star, recently starring on Epix as President Richard Graves in "Graves."

8 February 1941: Shirley Temple with Frank Morgan, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, Sam Goldwyn, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard & Myrna Loy on America Calling radio broadcast for Greek War Relief.

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020